"Another School Shooting"

Sydney M. Williams

Thought of the Day

“Another School Killing”

February 22, 2018

“You can’t talk about f***king in America; people say you’re dirty.

But, if you talk about killing somebody, that’s cool.”

                                                                                                Richard Pryor (1940-2005)

On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman, a former Marine, took a cache of weapons to the observation deck of the main building tower at the University of Texas in Austin. Over the next ninety minutes, he shot dead fourteen people and injured thirty-one. He was only stopped when police killed him. The night before he had killed his wife and mother. This was the first mass killing in the U.S. I remember. (Howard Unruh, a World War II veteran, killed thirteen people in Camden, New Jersey in 1949, but I was only eight, so it had little effect.) The Whitman massacre was different. I was twenty-five, the same age as Whitman. In 1966, I was still in the Army Reserve; though I had not served in combat, I knew what harm guns could do. It was a sobering moment, which I have never forgotten.

The number of school shootings has increased beyond the increase in numbers of guns or population. In the last two years, there have been seven high and grade school shootings; in the fifteen years before that there were four – still too many. Those who govern know this is happening and must work to stop it. There are avenues to explore, such as the ease with which people acquire assault rifles, like the AR-15 that was used in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Screenings must be tightened. Penalties must be increased, for stealing guns and for “straw” purchases of firearms. But other causes may be more pertinent.

We need to think of the “how” and the “why” of school violence. The “how” deals with access to guns and ease of entry to schools. (While I support the 2^nd Amendment, I am not a gun lover. Other than my Army experience and once shooting skeet, I have never fired a weapon). We need to keep guns out of the hands of the underage, of criminals and the psychologically impaired. There are those who suggest arming guards within schools. Perhaps we should, but we don’t want a nation of vigilantes. Ross Douthat, a conservative (and sensible) columnist for The New York Times, suggested that, like drinking, driving and voting, age restrictions be considered – a higher age for a more powerful weapon. Perhaps? Certainly, we need to enforce the laws we have. Technology is ubiquitous and should be used to prevent the sale of weapons to those who should not have them. An estimated 300 million guns in the hands of Americans makes the problem difficult but not impossible.

The “why” is more insidious. Common sense says that anyone who walks into a school – or, for that matter, into any place – with intent of shooting people is mentally deranged. Why can’t we admit that psychological problems play a role? Why are not local law officials and gun sellers informed as to those with mental deficiencies? Why isn’t there response when students, teachers, parents, friends contact local law enforcement (or the FBI) about an individual with mental problems? We live in an information age, and government, should they wish, can track any one of us. This is not the pre-emptive denying of an individual his rights. It is yielding to common sense.

Our cultural environment is part of the “why,” and it bears responsibility. Western culture, which brought the enlightenment and illuminated our founding fathers, was adopted by immigrants through most of our history. It has been replaced with multiculturalism, with the uncertainty it brings, including a more divided population. A decline in civility is manifested in Trump-trash-talking late-night TV by hosts, like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert. Parenting standards have deteriorated. A Pew Research study showed that 73% of all children in 1960 were being raised by two-parents in a first marriage. By 2014, that number had declined to 46 percent. In 1960, nine percent of all children were being raised in single-parent households. By 2014, that number had increased to 26%. Forty-five percent of children who live with a single mother live in poverty. African-Americans have suffered the most. Fifty-five percent of Black children live with a single parent, compared to 31% of Hispanics, 20% of Whites and 13% of Asians. About 40% of all babies born in America are born to unmarried women. In 2014, approximately 19% of all pregnancies ended in abortions. These factors have weakened the moral fiber of a civil, respectful and responsible people, and enervated the comfort and solidity a family brings.

Violence is rampant in movies, video games, rap music and on TV. There has always been violence in the world of entertainment. Simon Wiesenthal once said, “Violence is like a weed – it does not die, even in the greatest drought.” But it has gone mainstream; it has migrated from screens to real life. We have celebrities displaying the severed head of our President and talking of blowing up the White House. Mainstream media is mute. Re-read the comedian Richard Pryor’s quote at the top of this essay. Consider the response of a 12-year-old boy’s reaction to a screening of the movie “Black Panther,” as reported in The New York Times: “The movie makes me want to come back from the dead and take out people with my claws.” Is that what we would hope from a pre-teen? Or think of the lyrics of Eminem’s “Kim:”

“Sit down bitch! If you move again, I’ll beat the shit out of you.”

Or DMX’s “X-Is Coming:”

“When I bark, they hear the boom, but you see the spark.

And I see the part of your head which used to be your face.”

Is this entertainment? The American Academy of Pediatrics claims that gun violence in PG-13 rated films has tripled since 1985. In the TV show “Stalker,” a woman is buried alive in the first five minutes. Video games, like “Sniper Elite 4,” “Bulletstorm” and “Conan Exiles” use violence to attract young players.

None of these factors, alone, explain why violence has become common in our schools. My son Edward, whose firm Silsbee Partners consults with video game companies around the world, points out that video games, as well as movies and rap music, are global in their reach. Yet, other countries don’t have the problem of mentally unbalanced young men walking into schools and killing innocent children. Strict gun laws in places like Chicago have not prevented that city from becoming the Mecca of gun killings. There are questions without answers. Why have most of these school shootings happened in small and mid-size towns and cities? Why are most shooters students or former students? What is it that parents, teachers, neighbors, politicians and communities miss? Everything, from gun laws to mental health to our culture must be on the table, or re-thought. As horrific as mass killings are, gun violence goes beyond school and mass shootings. The Wall Street Journal reported last Friday that, since 2014, there have been 58,584 gun-related deaths (excluding suicides). Mass shootings account for only 1,584 of those deaths, or 2.7%. What can be done? Perhaps compulsory military service would teach young people how to handle weapons and inform them as to the harm they can do? Perhaps a return to the Aristotelean virtues of prudence, temperance, courage and justice? What is obvious – the path we are on leads to Perdition.

The cynic in me says politicians don’t want answers. Keeping the issue alive is more important to future elections than solutions. Whether my cynicism is justified or not, recalcitrance on both sides has been aggravated by a partisan media. Something must change. Perhaps term limits are a start?

"Trump - Mean. Misunderstood, or...?"

Sydney M. Williams

swtotd.blogspot.com

Thought of the Day

“Trump – Mean, Misunderstood, or…?”

November 6, 2017

“Because they are mean is no reason why I should be. I hate such things,

and though I think I have the right to be hurt, I don’t intend to show it.”

                                                                                                            Little Women, 1868

                                                                                                            Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)

The campaign to sully Donald Trump’s reputation is without precedent. Of course, much of it is his own doing. It was, after all, Mr. Trump who created monikers like “little” Marco, “low energy” Jeb and “crooked” Hillary. Genius for inventing names, even those with a modicum of truth, is not appreciated by those assigned them. But, does such behavior suggest meanness? We read that some who have had business dealings with Mr. Trump claim to have been cheated. Some friends that I like and respect think he is mean. Others disagree. Is he? I don’t know; though those who know him best think he is not, but they may be biased. I don’t know the man. Once, years ago, I was introduced to him at the ‘21’ Club in New York – a matter of about thirty seconds, hardly enough time to form an opinion. On the other hand, mainstream media, along with coastal elites and Washington mandarins, have no qualms claiming the President to be a deceitful, undignified, crude, misogynist, xenophobic bigot. But, keep in mind, these are the same people who told us Ronald Reagan was a dumb movie star and that George W. Bush was a brainless spoiled brat. Perhaps partisanship plays a role? Unlike his Republican predecessors who either used humor to deflect criticism or who ignored such jabs, Mr. Trump fights back.

Politics, as has been said many times, is a blood sport – a game, at least in recent years, better played by the Left than the Right. But, Mr. Trump is a man who plays hard ball, just as do Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. In the absence of a return to civility, which seems unlikely, we will have to deal with the world as it is, not as we would like. Both Parties would do well to re-read the proverb about people in glass houses not throwing stones, but my guess is they won’t. And the media sees what it wants to see.

Mr. Trump is a manifestation of our culture and politics. He did not suddenly appear, like a Phoenix. As Hoover Institute Fellow Victor Davis Hanson wrote last May, “Critics miss the fact that Trump is not a catalyst, but a reflection of contemporary culture.” In politics, we get what we deserve.

Decency, respect, civility have withered. Historically, our culture – the civil behavior that guides our lives – was based on our Christian-Judeo heritage. Today, we live in a changed, multi-layered society. Political correctness has replaced common sense. Church attendance is down. Each year, the United States loses about 3000 churches, and about 2.7 million church members become inactive. Bricks and mortar do not make a good Christian, or a good person; but attendance encourages reflection and fellowship – important ingredients in civil society. Manners, likewise, have long disappeared. Opening car doors for women is considered sexist, as is saying, “ladies first.” Instead, pornography, graphic sex, vulgarities proliferate. Our historical culture has been subsumed by a multi-culturalism unrecognizable to prior generations. Respect is no longer innate. It is legislated, as in California’s Gender Recognition Act, while our flag is disrespected by NFL players. Patriotism today has a negative connotation. It is confused with nationalism, yet the former demands responsibility as well as love for one’s country, while the latter infers blind obeisance.

Where have honesty and respect for political office gone? Sixty-five years ago, ex-President Truman drove himself and his wife back to Missouri. When offered a corporate board seat, he declined. “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and it’s not for sale.” Fast forward to 2001. Since leaving the White House, the Clinton’s amassed a fortune by selling connections made possible by the Presidency. So has Al Gore, even though he had only the Vice Presidency to offer. Dozens of members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, have seen elected office lead to private gain. We live in Madonna’s “Material World.” The rich and famous are idolized in the press. “Super” mansions have replaced “McMansions.” Politicians don’t want to be left out. They like the accoutrements wealth brings.

Lenny Bruce shocked audiences sixty years ago, with words in common usage today – in songs, movies and late-night comedy shows. Listen to rap musicians, look at most video games. We have become inured to vulgarity. Snoop Dogg’s new album cover shows a dead President Trump lying on a slab in a morgue, below a taste-less caption: “Make America ‘Crip’ Again” Your parents and grandparents would have been horrified at such language and images. The Left claims to be the defender of equality, yet, as we know, work place harassment has not been limited to those on the Right. Ann Althouse of the University of Wisconsin Law School says the Harvey Weinsteins of the world have set back women’s rights twenty years.

A double standard has become standard. Elementary school children in Burlington, New Jersey were taught to sing praises to their “savior,” Barack Obama, in 2009. Last month in Cambridge, Massachusetts, an elementary school librarian dismissed Melania Trump’s gift: “We don’t want your books.” Do universities and a biased media affect what people think? Of course. Bill Clinton had an intern perform oral sex on him, yet his approval ratings averaged over 50%. Kathy Griffin appeared on national television holding a mask of the severed head of Donald Trump, yet he is regularly referred to as a Nazi and murderer by late-night hosts, and his ratings are in the mid-30% range. Where have standards gone? What values do these actions – and their responses – teach the next generations? What do they say about us? Is it no wonder that authoritarians in Russia, China and the Middle East see the West as a civilization in decline?

Mr. Trump is no Saint, and he was not my first choice during the primaries, but neither is he the devil. We cannot have two sets of standards – one for hypocritical, Washington liberals adored by coastal elites, the media and Hollywood, and another for the man favored by middle class families across America’s midsection.

What is needed is a re-assertion of belief in the essential goodness of our Christian-Judeo culture, with its focus on individual freedom, human rights, rule of law and respect for others. Our culture has proved superior to others, as has our system of government. We need politicians, optimistic for the future, who emphasize that democracy and free-market capitalism have been better for liberty and the world’s poor, than totalitarianism and socialism. We should be reminded that it has been these traits that have made America a beacon to the world’s poor and oppressed. We are not perfect. Like each of us, our Country is a work in progress. It constantly needs small adjustments. But we should not be ashamed of who we are.

Is Trump mean, or is he misunderstood? Perhaps he is both, but I would suggest neither. I am not convinced he is mean, or certainly no meaner than your average Washington politician. As for being misunderstood, I suspect anti-Trumpers know exactly what he is. He is an anti-establishment figure, at a time when the establishment is mired in the muck of self-righteous hubris. Mr. Trump has, as Holman Jenkins recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal, a “clarion contempt” for Washington’s politicians and the swamp that surrounds them. He is a maverick, so a risk to those who feed off and prosper on a diet of hypocrisy and self-serving sanctimony. But, he is also a negotiator, so may help ward off inflexible extremists on the Left and the Right, like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.